


Losing Game

by kayla (fleetwoodmcs)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies With Benefits, F/M, Prank Wars Ensue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:27:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27573058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleetwoodmcs/pseuds/kayla
Summary: Celia Malfoy had lived her entire life getting everything she wants. Things always come easy when you're a pureblood, is what her father and uncle always used to say. And she had simply found it to be true. She wanted to be sorted into Slytherin, and so she was. She wanted to join the Slytherin Quidditch team in her second year, and so she did. There wasn't much Celia Malfoy wished for, because she already had everything her heart could ever want.Except for the affection of Terence Higgs, of course.But Celia Malfoy has a plan. Her fifth year is filled with the trials and tribulations of the Triwizard Tournament, which is the perfect time to show Terence that Celia Malfoy is most definitely now a woman worthy of his affection. But that might be a little difficult when the infuriating Weasley twins have gotten her caught up in their business and she now has to spend a month worth of weekends in detention.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/Fred Weasley, Flora Carrow/Miles Bletchley, George Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Game On

The color pink did not suit Argus Filch.

Celia Malfoy had discovered this tidbit of information when out past the school-wide curfew, sneaking back to the Slytherin common room after a couple of rounds of forbidden Firewhisky in the kitchens. All of her housemates had ditched her, but she had been fine with it at the time because it meant she and Terence Higgs were in the kitchen alone together for about twenty minutes. 

To Celia, twenty minutes was plenty of time to make him fall in love.

See, Celia Lisette Malfoy was in love with Terence Higgs. Terence Higgs was in love with Celia Malfoy. Well, not quite yet. Which was why that twenty minutes alone with him was so important. Because, really, when anyone spent twenty minutes in the presence of Celia Malfoy, it was inevitable they would fall in love with her. And what a glorious twenty minutes it had been. Save for the fact that he had to leave because he needed to "study Charms."

Who the hell turned down snogging a pretty girl to study Charms?

But that wasn't the point. The point was that on her way back, staggering a little bit because the Firewhisky had been a particularly strong brew, Celia Malfoy was witness to a prank. A prank in which, as she was rounding the corner, she spotted Argus Filch and his cat covered in pink goo. The goo was unidentifiable, but it was most definitely _pink_. And Celia decided right then and there that Argus Filch looked terrible in pink.

It made her laugh.

Looking back, this laugh was most certainly her downfall. Because Celia Malfoy, among other amazing things, was a loud giggler. And as soon as the giggle left her mouth, Filch's eyes landed on the exact spot she was standing before she could turn and hide.

Which was why she was sitting in Snape's office.

"Professor Snape, I didn't do this to Filch," Celia argued as Snape stared her down. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were narrowed, as if daring Snape to do something. She knew he wouldn't. Her father, Septimus Malfoy the second, was next in line to become Minister of Magic. That made her pretty high up socially. And Snape did not want Septimus Malfoy as an enemy. "And I'm not going to apologize for something I didn't do."

"You were standing around the corner, after curfew, laughing! This will take weeks to get out of Mrs. Norris's fur."

"It was a coincidence that I was there, as I've told you _thrice_ now." The added phrase, _you insufferable troll_ , was not spoken aloud but heavily implied. "Honestly, why are we even bothering to interrogate me? Have the both of you forgotten that we live in the same vicinity of the bloody _Weasley twins_? They probably got together with Peeves, for all I know."

Snape raised a brow. "As that was my initial response, I decided to ask Professor McGonagall to inspect it. Unfortunately, Miss Malfoy, the Weasley twins have an alibi for tonight."

"Fine, so it wasn't them. But it wasn't me either. I. Did. Not. Do. This."

"You're lying!" A still dripping-pink-goo Argus Filch countered.

Before Celia could turn around and scream at him, Snape interrupted. "Miss Malfoy, may I ask why you were out of your common room after hours anyway?"

Celia swallowed. She could tell them the truth and name the students that were with her. They would vouch for her presence in their nighttime activities and she would have an alibi. However, that also meant that their weekly Firewhisky nights would be known about by professors, and Celia doubted they'd let it continue. She was, after all, still underage. Additionally, she wasn't quite sure she was supposed to know about how to enter the kitchens. 

"I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to walk around to clear my head. That's when I happened to stumble across Filch covered in whatever it is he's covered in." As if an afterthought, she turned to look at Filch again. "What _is_ it anyway?"

"You know what it is because you're the one who did this to me!"

She'd never wanted to hex someone so badly in her fifteen years of life.

"You know better than to be out after curfew, Miss Malfoy. As a student of five years, you know the rules."

"Yes, I know the rules. But...I mean... you aren't going to do anything to me." This was said matter-of-factly, because really, what was Snape going to do to the daughter of Septimus Malfoy?

Snape raised a brow. "I'm not?"

"No."

"You're absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes."

The month's worth of detention he gave her said otherwise.

✩✩✩

Celia Malfoy was used to getting what she wanted. Having Septimus Malfoy the second as her father and being the only girl among the four brothers her mother sired, she was the princess of the Malfoy household. Her brothers had long since graduated Hogwarts, and so she was the only Malfoy child still in the house. This meant that her mother and father doted on her and endeavored to keep her happy. Celia would be the first to admit that she was spoiled. The only thing was...she didn't care. 

Because of this mentality, she expected Terence Higgs would come easily to her. How could he resist? She was beautiful, smart, and they would make an excellent match. Though her parents were more than happy to let her choose her husband, there were certain expectations Celia was assumed to meet. Terence Higgs checked all of those boxes. On the other side, Celia Malfoy checked all of the boxes Terence's parents were probably placing. Getting Terence to fancy her shouldn't have been a problem.

Until her bloody cousin.

Septimus Malfoy didn't do much with his brother Lucius. They gathered at family events and holidays, but it was always an unspoken rule that Septimus was of higher standing and therefore more powerful and important than his younger brother. The same was said for the Malfoy sires. Her brothers were kings among the Malfoy family. Septimus the third, her eldest brother, was working in America with the President of MACUSA. Though the move to America had been a shock to the Malfoy family, it really was an amazing opportunity that reflected well on the family status. 

Cypress, her second eldest brother, was the athletic one of the family. He had been recruited to Puddlemere United as a reserve the year he had graduated. Now, he was a professional member of the team. He often sent her Puddlemere merchandise because he got it for free. She would never admit it because she prided herself on being the bitchy little sister, but she loved going to his games. Cypress was probably the brother she got along with the most.

And then there was Armand. Armand was an alchemist. Which come to think of it, Celia didn't know much about. She just knew that Armand was the one their father expected the most from as the dawn of the Dark Lord rose over them. 

And then there was Celia.

Her father had assured her that should she wish, she'd never have to work a day in her life. They would continue to pay for her schooling and anything else she needed (or wanted) and then when she married off, her husband would have an equal amount of money to spend on her. It was why Terence was the obvious choice. He would provide for her in the way her mother and father had. But that was before Draco Malfoy had gotten in the way.

Celia's third year and Draco's second, her idiotic younger cousin had Lucius bribe the Slytherin team with new brooms in exchange for Draco being the new Seeker for the Quidditch team. A position that Terence had held. Now, Terence was a Chaser, and while he was quite good at what he did, he had been a much better seeker the three years he'd played. It was this reason, Celia wholeheartedly believed, that Terence didn't want Celia now. Because even though she and her cousin weren't close, they were still family and Terence recognized that. 

It was because of Terence's hesitation to admit that he fancied her that had Celia's plan set into motion.

The plan was simple. She could break it down into three steps. Step one, she would show Terence that she wasn't entirely vapid and awful like her cousin was. Though she was known as the Slytherin princess, she did have feelings and those feelings included fancying the pants off Terence Higgs. Her feelings were hidden deep down beneath her bitchy exterior, but they were there. She'd always wistfully believed someone would sweep her off her feet like her father had her mother, and so it was impossible to not harbor those feelings. Terence just had to work to uncover them. They could do it together, as a _team_. Step two, she would then offer to help him in Charms because really, the boy was dreadfully awful at the subject. He would see how smart and kind she was and instantly fall for her. Step three, she'd get that boy in a broom closet.

No one could resist Celia Malfoy and a bloody broom closet. 

At least, no one could resist Celia Malfoy and a bloody broom closet if she could...actually put her plan in motion. But alas, she was stuck in a month's worth of detentions for the prank she most definitely did _not_ pull on Argus Filch.

"How'd you do it?" Miles Bletchley asked as he slid into the seat next to her. They were in the Great Hall, in the break they had after Charms and before Transfiguration. Miles, naturally, had a huge pile of food in front of him. Celia wrinkled her nose in disgust as he shoved a peanut butter sandwich into his mouth and a little fell on his chin. Celia was friends with Miles by default, and at this point, they had been friends for so long that it was pointless to end the friendship. However, if they had been recent friends, she might have had to end their acquaintanceship right then and there. 

"Chew with your mouth closed, you disgusting slob."

"Such words of love from the light of my life."

Celia scoffed and went back to her own meal, a significantly less messy turkey sandwich. The seat across from them made a noise as two people joined their group, the Carrow twins identical except for the "F" and "H' pendants they both wore around their necks. Years of knowing them, however, assured Celia that she'd know who was Flora and who was Hestia even if they weren't wearing them. She knew their mannerisms well enough from sharing as dorm with them for the past five years. "How'd you do it?" Flora asked as she set her books on the bench next to her. Hestia nodded in agreement, but she was staring at Miles like someone had Confunded her, so Celia didn't expect she had heard the question.

"Do what?" Celia asked, raising a brow.

"Get whatever that pink goo was on Filch. It was brilliant."

Celia gaped. "How did you know about that? And I didn't do it. Someone set me up."

Miles perked up at this. "You didn't do it? Shit. I thought you had. I was going to tell you how awesome it was." More peanut butter dripped down the side of his lip. Celia made a face at him. Hestia sighed like he had just confessed his undying love for her. 

"No, I didn't do it. I was coming back from the kitchens with Terence, remember?" And because maybe, just maybe, she was still a little peeved that Snape had given her detention for a month, she bit into her sandwich with a little more force than necessary. "Whoever did it is going to regret it. When I find out, they're dead. And who does Snape think he is, giving _me_ detention? When my father hears about this—"

"If I hear one more bloody Malfoy say that in my lifetime—"

"—he's not going to be happy with Snape," Celia continued, ignoring Flora's interruption. She sat up in her seat and lifted her chin in the air. "He might even try to get Snape sacked."

Flora rolled her eyes. "Potter's been trying that since his first year here. Nice try, Celia."

"Potter doesn't have Septimus Malfoy as a father," Celia reminded the group.

"Yeah, we know. Things would have turned out a lot differently fourteen years ago if he had," Miles commented, shoving another food Celia couldn't identify into his mouth.

She had met Miles on the train to Hogwarts in her first year. Back then he had been awkwardly gangly and skinny as a pole. Tie (her nickname for her older brother, since it got rather exhausting having two Septimus Malfoys in the house) was in his seventh year and couldn't be bothered to hang out with his little sister. Cypress had his Quidditch friends, though he did plop a kiss on Celia's forehead before leaving with them, which she had pretended to flinch away from but really, she didn't mind. And then there was Armand, the fourth year who hung out with a weird Ravenclaw girl he was dating at the time. That had left Celia alone.

Until Miles had walked into her compartment.

Maybe that's why, even as he shoved what looked like an apple tart into his mouth, she had a small fondness for him.

The twins she had met on the boat ride in her first year. Miles had already agreed to accompany her, and the two of them quickly claimed a boat so they wouldn't be separated. She would have preferred to sit with her brothers, but only the first years took a boat across, which she thought was highly ridiculous. That's when two identical faces popped up in her field of vision. Back then, their hair length distinguished them when Celia couldn't see their necklace charms in the inky black evening. The one with the shoulder-length hair was Flora, and she was a little more outgoing as she charged straight into their boat with no regard for anyone but herself. Celia appreciated that about her. Hestia was a little more reserved, with hair falling nearly to her waist, though it was plaited back. She had taken Flora's offered hand and stepped into the boat silently.

Their personalities hadn't changed much over the past five years.

"What do you have to do in your detentions, anyway?" Hestia asked calmly, sending Miles a rather disgusted look when he shoved yet another apple tart in his mouth. 

"Scrub trophies. Without magic." Celia was not too pleased with this fact. 

Flora shrugged. "Maybe you'll see one of Cypress's trophies in there." At the mention of Celia's brother, both Flora and Hestia went moon-eyed. Celia never saw the appeal of any of her brothers, but then again, it would have been weird if she had. Since it was just she and the Carrow twins in their dorms, there were many a night when she heard Flora telling Hestia how "dreamy Cy's eyes were" or Hestia responding with "his muscles looked to fetching at Quidditch practice today."

Celia was just happy Cypress had only gone to school with her for two years. The mooning over him had stopped, for the most part, when he had graduated. Now, there were only small instances when Flora and Hestia brought him up.

"Oi, stop going all sodding mad about Cypress," Miles commented, shaking his head in the twins' direction, "I'm trying to eat here."

"Yeah, and you're doing a real stand-up job of it," Flora hissed back venomously. "You're wearing more than you've got in your mouth."

It was no secret amongst the friend group that Miles and Flora didn't get along much. This was because they were, in pureblood fashion, betrothed. Flora thought her future husband was an idiot and Celia couldn't exactly disagree with her. Miles thought Flora was too dramatic and overly sensitive, which Celia also couldn't disagree with. Together, the two of them made a terrible couple. But their marriage was something that had been fated since the day they had been born. 

Celia was happy her parents had never arranged a marriage for her. They expected her to end up with someone of high standing, but they were perfectly content letting her choose. Arranged marriages weren't as common as they once had been, but with the rise of the Dark Lord, they had started cropping up again in pureblood families whenever a new child was born. Hestia, lucky to get out of it because she was the younger twin and there had been no male heir to match her with, came out unscathed. At the moment, she was staring at her twin and her future brother-in-law with an exasperated look on her face, like she couldn't believe she was going to have to put up with their fighting for the rest of her life.

It was quiet amongst the friends for a moment before Hestia looked up at the elephant in the room. It sat just in front of the professor's table, gently undulating a blue glow from the center of it. "Do...do you lot know anyone who's going to put their name in?" she asked hesitantly. The four of them were too young, at age fifteen, but that didn't stop their fellow Slytherin seventh years from trying. Just the other day, she had heard Terence discussing with his friends that he was planning on entering his name. The idea was simultaneously swoon-worthy (Celia could just _imagine_ herself hanging on the arm of a Triwizard Tournament Champion) and terrifying (she could just as easily picture herself comforting a heartbroken Terence when it wasn't his name to get called). 

"Terence," Celia mentioned, poking around at her lunch. 

Miles scoffed. "Of course you'd know that he's entering."

"What's wrong with that?" Flora bristled. "Of course she'd know if the boy she fancied was entering. I don't think that's outrageous."

"Did those words leave my mouth, Flora?" Miles snapped back. He had a little bit of food on the corner of his mouth, so it was a bit hard to take him seriously, but his tone was brisk.

"I heard Marcus Flint is going to enter!" Hestia clamored, trying to diffuse the situation between the two of them before it blew into an argument that was entirely out of control. Normally Celia would let them go about their fighting because it was amusing to her, but she had to agree with Hestia. She didn't feel like hearing it this afternoon. 

"I've got detentions for the next month," Celia pouted, and at the reminder of what was going wrong in Celia's life, Flora turned her attention to the two females sitting with her rather than focus on Miles, who was angrily stabbing something gelatin on his plate. "How am I supposed to convince Terence to fall in love with me when I'm in _detention_?" Her blood boiled when she remembered the haughty look on Snape's face. He thought he was so high and mighty, giving her detention with the smug little smirk. She had entirely ignored Argus Filch because he was just an unfortunate blip on her radar, but Snape...she decided she hated him.

And despite Flora's insistence that the Malfoy phrase was getting annoying, Celia was going to let her father know about Snape's idiocy.

"Just wow him with your stunning personality," Miles suggested. The look Celia shot him was icy enough to freeze him over twice, but Miles was immune to it by now. She really had to find new ways to evoke terror in him. "There are more serious things going on than you not being able to bone Terence Higgs."

"God, you're such a buffoon. I don't want to _bone_ him," Celia argued, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I want to date him. I want to make him realize that we are perfect together and he should just give up the chase and stop playing hard to get."

Because that was what it was. Terence Higgs was playing hard to get. He must have known what a great couple they would have been and was just messing with her. Or maybe he thought that dodging her would make Draco mad or something. It was the only logical explanation Celia could think of. 

"Whatever," Miles said delicately, seemingly done with his meal as he wiped his face with the napkin on the table. Celia was just relieved he didn't use the sleeve of his robes. She wouldn't have put it past him. "Detention will be fine. Terence can wait."

Of course Terence could wait. They were meant to be together. He'd better wait until the world ended.

✩✩✩

Celia's arm hurt. This wasn't exactly a surprise, since she had spent the last twenty minutes scrubbing trophies with a _toothbrush_ , like some common muggle. Filch had confiscated her wand at the start of the detention, stating that he didn't trust her to clean without magic. At least he wasn't entirely daft, then, considering that was _exactly_ what Celia would have done if he hadn't taken her wand. Her hair had been thrown up into a ponytail about five minutes in because it kept falling in her face. Her sleeves were rolled up seven minutes in. At fifteen minutes, she felt the nasty feeling of sweat trickling down her back.

Needless to say, she was miserable. 

The door to the trophy room swung open and Celia ignored it, figuring it was Filch coming to check that she was actually working, and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she acknowledged her presence. When she heard a snicker, however, her head whipped around quickly, her hair slapping her in the eye at the movement. She angrily reached up and tightened the ponytail so it would stay still before her eyes took in the person in front of her.

Celia Malfoy didn't ever think she'd seen a Weasley twin by himself.

It should be noted that Celia did not have a specific problem with the Weasleys among the general ones the rest of the Slytherin house felt towards them. They were a nuisance that targeted her housemates more than they targeted other houses and they came from blood traitors. The disdain wasn't personal to Fred and George Weasley. Still, staring at one of them now, with a smug smirk on his face, she felt her eyes narrow.

"What do you want, Weasel?" she asked, huffing out a haughty breath.

"Just taking a walk through the castle, Malfoy. No need to huff and puff about it." But there was some mirth in his eyes that told her this was not the entire truth. "What did the high and mighty Celia Malfoy do to get herself in detention?"

"None of your business, Weasel," she snapped, turning away from him and scrubbing the trophy in her hand with renewed vigor. She'd take the sore arm muscles if it meant Weasley would leave her alone for the rest of the detention. 

"Don't you want to know if I'm Fred or George?" he questioned.

"I cannot properly convey the amount that _I don't care_."

He laughed, an annoying sound that shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did because Celia Malfoy prided herself on being cool as a cucumber. Once, in second year, she and Flora had gotten into a fight. It was the only fight of their friendship, now that Celia thought about it. It was when Flora had been told that she was going to have to marry Miles, which left her sobbing in their dormitory at two in the morning because she hated him so much. When they had woken up, Celia had made an offhanded comment along the lines of "it could be worse."

Flora didn't think there was much else worse than being told at twelve that you were expected to marry someone you couldn't tolerate by the time you were twenty. Looking back, Celia had to agree. That only gave her six years. Six years to become a wife. Some engagements lasted longer than that. But the point was, even as Flora was screaming in her face and demanding that Celia take it back because she had no idea what Flora was going for, Celia had regained her composure quite nicely. It was a trick she had learned from Cypress when dealing with the Quidditch media. "Don't let them see you sweat, Lia," he had told her when they had walked out of their house only to be met with photographers of all shapes and sizes, leaning in predatorily with flashing cameras.

"You know, I had my doubts about that the prank on Filch would work. Stinksap is pretty hard to charm into a different color, you know. We weren't quite sure it would stay pink, but it ended up exceeding our expectations."

She rolled her eyes, half-ignoring his prattling as she continued to scrub. She had gotten through half a trophy when his words actually caught up to her. "Pink...Stinksap?"

When she turned to face him, he was grinning. "How bad did it smell up close? We could smell it from down the corridor, I can't even imagine what being locked in Snape's office with him would do to a nose."

If she had her wand, she might have hexed him. Instead, she resorted to more barbaric measures. Flinging both the toothbrush and trophy she had in her hands, she screamed angrily. The entire reason she was stuck here in the first place was because of this stupid redheaded demon in front of her. The trophy missed him by an inch or two, but the toothbrush hit his chest with nothing more than a small smacking sound. " _Are. You. Kidding. Me_?"

"Paid off a couple of first years to confirm our alibi, too. We didn't know you would be walking down the hall at that moment, but the timing was just perfect, wasn't it?"

"I am missing getting my future husband to fall in love with me because you _dyed Stinksap pink and dropped it on Filch_?" Her voice reached an octave she wasn't even sure she possessed. 

His mouth crinkled at the corners. "Future husband? Isn't that a bit presumptuous?"

"You will march your stupid little Weasel arse out there right now and tell Filch, or else you are _dead_!"

"Here's the thing," he said, grinning and picking up the toothbrush and trophy from the floor, "how are you going to know which Weasley twin to kill if you didn't bother asking which one I was?" As she stood there fuming, he set the items down on a shelf next to him. "I think I'm gonna sit this detention out. But have fun, truly. Tell me if you see any interesting names on these trophies."

" _If you leave, you will regret it_!"

"Can't hear you, I'm already out the door!" he mentioned, opening the door and slipping through it before Celia could hurl another trophy at him. The metal hit the door with an unsatisfying thud. 

As soon as he left, Celia let a tiny scream escape her mouth once more. Terence Higgs was out there, sitting in the Slytherin common room practicing Charms, while she was in this dark and musty-smelling trophy room. _All thanks to the Weasley twins_.

So the Weasel wanted to play a game. Unfortunately for him, Celia Malfoy didn't lose.


	2. Love Potion No. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though any characters/plots that are familiar belong to the author of Harry Potter, I do not agree with her views about the trans community. If you have found yourself hurt and angered by JKR's remarks, please reach out. I am here to listen. You are valid and so incredibly loved.

Growing up with three older brothers meant that Celia had been in on her fair share of pranks.

Her brothers didn't prank her often. Whenever they did, she would give them watery puppy dog eyes and burst into tears to annoy them from ever pranking her again. That meant that Celia was often roped into their schemes to prank their brothers. The worst one was when Cypress had put a Bulgeye Potion into Armand's morning tea. Her poor brother's eyes had swollen so much that her parents had immediately taken him to St. Mungo's for the antidote. She and Cypress had been grounded for a month after that, but even Armand laughed about it when he got out of Mungo's and returned home wearing an eye-patch that made him look like Alastor Moody. 

The Weasley twins were considered the pranksters of Hogwarts. Sure, every student had the penchant for pranking, especially when around Peeves the Poltergeist, but the Weasleys had somehow stolen the moniker. Her house was often the target of some of their ridiculous pranks, but for the most part, Celia had stayed away from their jokes.

Until they went and dyed Argus Filch pink and blamed it on her.

Celia was staring at her orange juice, deep in thought, when Miles cleared his throat. "You alive, Malfoy?"

The platinum-haired with blinked. She hadn't realized Miles, Flora, and Hestia had sat down, but the three of therm were tucking into their breakfasts, all of them looking at her as if she had suddenly grown two more heads. "I'm fine." She reached forward and took the goblet of orange juice in her hands, raising it to her lips and taking a sip. Thoughtfully, she cocked her head to the side. "On a scale of one to ten, how hard do you think it would be to slip an Essence of Insanity to the Weasley twins?"

Her three friends stared at her, each looking more gobsmacked than the rest.

"Oh, and the pink goo on Filch was pink Stinksap," she continued, taking another sip of her orange juice before setting it back down on the table. "But back to the question. If I'm really sneaky about it, what are my odds?"

"Not that they don't deserve it, but why are we slipping the Weasley twins an Essence of Insanity?" Hestia asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Right. She had forgotten that not everyone knew about one of the twins visiting her in detention the night before. She still had no bloody idea which one it was. Whoever said that they could tell them apart was obviously lying. And Celia didn't care much to find the minuscule differences that _might_ help her differentiate between the two. "The Weasley twins were, as I suspected and told Snape, the culprits of the pink goo. One of them visited me in detention last night, bragging up and down the place." She still remembered her last hour of scrubbing trophies, imagining that she was roughly scrubbing off the pleased expression of whatever twin she had seen the night before. She was sure the trophies had never shone so brightly. 

"I thought Snape said they had an alibi?" Flora asked, giving Miles a disgusted glare when he tried to stuff both a slice of bacon and a forkful of eggs in his mouth. 

"The tossers paid first years to back them up. Gits."

If her brothers still attended Hogwarts, they would be scheming about ways they could get back at Fred and George Weasley. Though Cypress was the one that went along with pranks the most, Tie was the best at coming up with them. Armand usually just watched with amused interest, but chimed in every once in a while if he had an idea to improve the prank. 

Flora crinkled her nose. "Essence of Insanity isn't good enough. You've got to embarrass them. Knowing them, they'd just go with the insanity. Not like they'd be acting any different than they already do."

Celia knew this. She had wracked her brain trying to come up with a potion she could slip into their drinks. And while _she_ may have wanted to maim them, she also didn't want to get sent to Azkaban, so the more intense potions were out of the question. She sighed dramatically, resting her chin in her hand. "Essence of Insanity is all I've got, so unless one of you decides you want to be useful..."

"Just hex them," Miles suggested, shrugging his shoulders as if it were the most obvious answer.

"She can't just get up and bloody hex them for no reason," Flora argued, turning to face her betrothed. He looked a sight, eating his breakfast and completely uncaring about Celia's predicament. Celia had never felt worse for Flora and her future. 

"It wouldn't be for _no reason_. She literally just said she's getting back at them. Keep up, Carrow."

"You know what? Maybe she should hex them. But we need to practice hexes first. Want to volunteer to be guinea pig?"

"Merlin, here they go again," Hestia mumbled under her breath. Celia couldn't help but agree, knowing that when Miles and Flora started going at it, they wouldn't pay attention to anyone else around them, for a good five minutes. Their longest argument had lasted all throughout breakfast and their morning classes (which had been entertaining because neither of them had listened when Professor Binns had told them to stuff it) all the way through lunch. By the time they were both eating their sandwiches, Hestia had casted a silencing charm on the both of them. It was worth the detention she served with McGonagall when the professor had caught her. 

Flora was correct, however. Essence of Insanity wasn't enough. Celia would have to go back to the drawing board. She sighed, pushing her breakfast around with her fork.

"Shut up a minute," Hestia told Flora and Miles, who had moved off the subject of Celia's revenge and were now arguing about who was the better potioneer. When that didn't work, Hestia leaned over and slapped Miles on the side of the head. Before Flora could praise her twin, Hestia's hand also landed with a swift slap on Flora's arm.

" _Ow!_ " Miles and Flora shouted in unison.

"Essence of Insanity won't embarrass them because they're already insane. But what's the one thing that they'd never be able to live down for the rest of their Hogwarts career?" Hestia was grinning, and Celia hoped her friend had the same penchant for pranks as her brothers did.

"Being normal?"

Hestia rolled her eyes at her sister's deadpanned response. "Declaring their love and affections quite loudly...for a Slytherin. More specifically, a _Malfoy_."

Celia understood what Hestia was saying almost immediately. Miles let out a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest and looking mildly impressed with Hestia's suggestion. Flora still had her eyes narrowed in Miles's direction, but her head was tilted to the side, considering her twin's words. "Well," Celia began, giving her three best friends a big smile. "How long does it take to brew Amortentia?"

✩✩✩

Terence Higgs was quite distracting in a black turtleneck sweater. Celia knew this would probably be the case, but still found herself pleasantly surprised when he walked down the stairs from his dorm and joined her in the common room. He was objectively beautiful, with a strong jawline and full lips, but she also liked the little things about him. He pulled the sleeves of his long sleeves over his hands whenever he was cold, his eyes sparkled when they played Exploding Snap and the card blew up in her face, and he adored strawberries. It was the little things that made her so infatuated with him.

That and, aesthetically speaking, he was one of the most beautiful men she'd ever seen.

"Morning, Celia," he said, his voice still a little low from just waking up. It stirred up something in Celia's stomach and chest when the sound of it met her ears. "What're you up to?" 

"Brewing Amortentia to embarrass the Weasley twins," she offered, trying to be as cool and collected as she could manage. It was quite hard when he grinned and a dimple appeared in his left cheek. 

"Right. Miles told me about their Stinksap prank. I think your rebuttal is _brilliant_."

It would be even more brilliant if it ended with a congratulatory snog from him when she pulled it off, but she could take their relationship slowly. Baby steps, she reminded herself. It was hard when she quite literally wanted to _bite_ his jaw, but she could control herself for now. "Thank you," she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. The day before, Miles and the Carrow twins had distracted Snape while Celia had snuck out the ingredients they needed for Amortentia. They were currently brewing it in the girls' dorm, considering they were the only three in their year in Slytherin. "A day of the Weasley twins being in love with me. God, the possibilities are endless. Reckon they'd do my Transfiguration homework if I asked?"

Terence laughed and the sound shot a pool of heat straight to Celia's belly. "Probably, but do you really _want_ the Weasley twins doing your homework?" 

"Point taken."

"Personally, I don't think you're doing enough. So they have to spend the day in love with a beautiful girl. Such an inconvenience," he drawled out sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Celia grinned. "I didn't know you found me so beautiful, Terence."

"Please. You know you're beautiful. It's just a fact. Like the sky is blue."

Her heart thumped so loudly in her chest, she was certain he'd heard it. She just winked at him and went back to looking at the brewing requirements for Amortentia. They sat in silence like that for a while, and she could feel his eyes on her. She was happy that he had joined her on her right side, since her right profile was her better half. Gently pulling her hair to the left side of her neck, she slyly smiled. "I can't focus when you're staring at me," she singsonged. 

He laughed again. "I'll stop staring, then." But he didn't immediately look away when he said it. Eventually though, his hunger won out and he stood up from the couch, straightening out the sleeves of his shirt. "I'm off to get breakfast. I'll see you later, Celia."

He walked away, leaving Celia with a fantastic view of his bum in those tight grey trousers. It really was unfair how beautiful he was.

With the distraction of Terence gone, she focused more closely on the instructions for brewing Amortentia. They had started it last night and it had to set for twenty-four hours before they added in the rest of the ingredients and stirred it, which meant she probably wouldn't actually be able to administer it to the twins until at least Tuesday. That was fine, though. Patience wasn't a virtue she claimed to have a lot of, but she could be patient with something like this. 

Miles and the twins joined her shortly after Terence had left, sitting around her and talking lowly amongst themselves while Celia turned the pages of her Potions book. "You think the potion's gonna work?" Miles asked, crossing his legs and leaning back against the couch. 

"Positive. We're doing everything right. Should be ready by Tuesday." 

"Any idea what you're going to have them do?" Hestia asked, eyes glinting mischievously. Though she was the quieter of the Carrow twins, she was also the one Celia wouldn't want to mess with. 

"Thought I'd start the day of with telling them that unless they loudly proclaiming to the Great Hall that they're in love with me, I won't believe it. Then, I figured I'd make them carry my books and follow me to class. Maybe have them do some homework, though Terence made an excellent point and I'm not sure I want them doing my homework. I also wanted to have them serenade me in the Great Hall, but not sure when I'll fit that in."

"You're evil," Hestia replied, grinning. 

"Think you could get them to wear Slytherin colors?" Miles asked, seemingly approving of Celia's plan even though he'd been the biggest advocate of just hexing the twins. 

"I'll jot it down." She turned the page of the recipe and then closed the book when there was no new information. Just suggestions on how to administer it. "It says it'll be stronger in its purest form, but I don't think they're going to just drink a potion I give them, so we'll have to bake or pour it into something."

"Now we just have to figure out how to get them to take it. They aren't Crabbe and Goyle; they won't just eat a cupcake floating around for no reason," Flora mentioned. That had been something Celia had worried about, but there had to be a way to get the Weasley twins to take it.

"We'll figure that bit out later. For now, let's just make sure that the Amortentia is brewed correctly."

"I bet Miles will smell barbecue sauce and whatever product Snape uses in his hair," Flora said, examining her nails in a bored manner. Miles turned around, ready to argue, but Hestia clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut it. I'm sick of hearing you buffoons argue."

Miles and Flora sent her matching glares. Celia just rolled her eyes.

✩✩✩

It was Tuesday, and the Amortentia was ready. Despite Flora's joke about barbecue sauce and Snape's hair product, Miles smelled citrus fruit and what he described as "the smell of rain." Hestia had hesitantly taken a sniff and smelled broom polish and freshly baked bread. Flora shoved Miles out of the way so she could get a good whiff of the potion and had immediately told the group she smelled chocolate and clean linen.

Celia wondered herself what smells she found most attractive. She leaned over the cauldron, breathing in deeply with her nose. The most prominent scent was teakwood (which she assumed was the main component in whatever Terence wore as cologne), with an undertone of something fruity. She couldn't place her finger on the scent, but she thought it was similar to pomegranate. "Well, the potion turned out alright," she stated, pouring it into two vials she was planning on sneaking into something for the twins to eat. "Now we've just figure out how to get it into something they'll eat."

"You'll think of something. You're a mastermind with this kind of stuff," Hestia told her. The three of her friends hadn't been too worried about the logistics of Celia getting the potion to the twins. They were just excited about the end result.

Celia did eventually think of something. Which was why she had the house elves in the kitchens pour the Amortentia into some cookie dough and make two of the biggest cookies she'd ever seen. They were easily the size of her head, and though they were a bit of a pain to carry around, she knew the payoff would be worth it if her plan actually went off without a hitch.

That Tuesday morning, on her way into the Great Hall for breakfast, she purposely shoved her shoulder into one of the Weasley twins when she spotted them walking towards the Gryffindor table. She had both of the giant cookies in her hands, pretending to eat a corner of one of them as she rolled her eyes. "Watch it, Weasels."

"In case you didn't notice," one of them said, plucking both the cookies out of her hand. She pretended to be affronted, narrowing her eyes, but felt the sharp sting of relief when the twin holding the cookies doled the other one out to his brother, "you ran into us, Malfoy." And then, like a beautiful resolution, Celia watched as the both of them ate the cookies. Like she knew they would, they didn't stop at one bite. No, they ate nearly the entire cookie to piss her off.

She smirked.

"Sorry about the cookies, love. We just couldn't resist," the twin on the right said.

"Oh believe me, I know," Celia mentioned offhandedly, examining her nails. When she didn't look absolutely horrified that they had eaten her snack, they turned to look at each other cautiously. "Which is why I laced them with Amortentia. You can spend the entire day in love with a Malfoy as punishment for making me suffer through detentions for a month."

They both looked like they were ready to throttle her. But after a few moments, the look in their eyes changed, staring at her the way she wished Terence would look at her. Their eyes trailed over her, drinking in every expression she made and every tapping movement of her foot as she waited for the potion to take full effect. "Good morning, boys. Walk with me to the Slytherin table?"

"Of course!" They both chimed, obsessively following behind her when she strutted towards her house's table. Miles and the Carrow twins were grinning wildly when Weasel One and Weasel Two followed her without complaint. 

"I'm quite hungry," she exclaimed as she sat down on the bench. As if they were in a trance, they sat down on either side of her and immediately started building up plates of food, arguing back and forth with one another on who would be the one to feed her. Miles choked on his juice and Flora just giggled uncontrollably. When both twins offered her the plates they had created, she picked off an apple slice from one and a piece of bacon from the other. "Boys, how am I looking this morning? I don't think I like how I did my hair."

"What?" One of them shouted.

"Love, it looks divine! You always look divine."

Celia fake pouted. "I just don't believe you. Maybe if you'd announce it to the Great Hall, I would. But I don't know..."

"We'll shout it! The whole world needs to know _CELIA MALFOY IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN TO EVER EXIST_!"

The Great Hall went silent at the exclamation, eyes swinging over to the Slytherin table, where the twin sitting on the right side of her had just shouted. Celia had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. Just as she was about to speak again, to suggest they do something else, the twin on her left stood, balancing himself on the bench before he was stepping onto the table, feet mashing into the syrupy waffles without his notice. Hestia had tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard. 

" _CELIA MALFOY IS A GODDESS! I AM IN LOVE WITH CELIA MALFOY_!"

"Merlin boys," Celia drawled out, grinning to herself, "you sure know how to make a girl feel good."

The students in the hall were now laughing, watching as the other twin got up onto the table to argue with his brother about which one of them loved Celia more, their voices carrying throughout the room. The professors at the end of the tables looked confused and horrified as Celia stated she'd never been serenaded and the twins started a rousing verse of "Magic Works" by the Weird Sisters.

"Fred! George!" This voice was familiar, and Celia turned to see their younger brother with Potter and Granger at his sides. He sent a glare towards Celia's friends (who were busy laughing their arses off) before he continued to shout as his brothers. "What the _bloody_ hell are you doing?"

"We love Celia, Ron! Look at how beautiful she is! The way the sun hits her hair and it shines golden?"

"They aren't wrong," she decided, flipping her hair over her shoulder once more and sending them a flirty little wave that had the two of them mooning over her.

"Have you two gone absolutely mad? You don't love Celia Malfoy. No one loves Celia Malfoy." The comment would have stung a bit more had the Weasley twins not been under Amortentia. Had they not been, they might have been inclined to agree with their younger brother, because under normal circumstances, they _didn't_ think anyone loved Celia Malfoy. 

Because they were under Amortentia, however, they immediately glared daggers at their brother.

"How can you say that?" One of them demanded, stepping off the table so he could hoist his brother up by the front of his robes. "Take it back! Apologize!"

"Don't listen to him, Celia! He's always been the dumbest brother. Our love is true." The twin still standing on the table took her hand in his and started peppering kisses along her skin. Celia resisted the urge to pull it away in disgust, instead just smirking.

"Oh, I don't know if I believe you," she lamented, letting out a long sigh.

This started another round of insulting their brother. Celia watched in amusement with her friends as Ron tried to talk sense into them, but there was no getting through to their Amortentia-addled brains. They would be this crazed over her for another twenty-four hours, willing to do whatever she said. It was their obsessive defense of her that cause Ron to look over at her in disbelief.

"Did you...did you give them a bloody _love potion_?" 

She had long since mastered the art of raising one lone eyebrow. "Are you missing brain cells, Weasel? Why would I give your bothers a love potion?" Celia stood, satisfied that they had been embarrassed enough at breakfast. There was still an entire day planned and she wasn't going to waste a single second. "Maybe they just decided to stop hiding the fact they love me. I don't blame them. Most of Hogwarts does." With those words, she slapped half of her books into one twin's hand and the other half was given to his mirror image. "Will you hold these for me, boys? My arms do get so tired."

"Do you need us to carry anything else for you, Celia?" One of the twins asked, hurrying along to follow behind her as she walked to her next class. 

"Well...my bag is heavy too."

Everyone in the corridors watched as Fred and George Weasley fought over who was going to carry Celia Malfoy's bag, eyes wide in confusion. They'd never seen the twins act so moon-eyed over a girl, and it wasn't like they couldn't have their pick of females. Most of Hogwarts admitted that while annoying when they were pranking everyone, they were rather fit, especially in their Beater Quidditch gear. Celia had never really taken notice of their aesthetics because she was always too busy staring at Terence, but even she could admit now that she was with them in such a close proximity that Fred and George Weasley were attractive.

Though, maybe she found them so handsome now because they were practically drooling over her.

"Weasleys," Snape drawled when Celia walked into her Potions class, the two redheads trailing behind them. "Turn around and exit the classroom. I'm sure Miss Malfoy can find her way to her seat by herself."

"We can't leave Celia," one of them replied, looking quite like he might start crying if Snape really sent him away.

"We'll be quiet. You won't even hear us!"

When Snape looked at Celia, she shrugged. "They've been like this all morning, Professor Snape. I thought it was one of their pranks at first. I don't know what's gotten into them." 

Snape took the moment to really look at the twins, eyes narrowing when he took in their expressions. After a few moments, he let out a long sigh. "They've been slipped a love potion. Bell," he said suddenly, turning to look at Katie Bell, a Gryffindor who was in Celia's year, "escort your fellow classmates to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey will give them the antidote."

"There's no antidote! We're in love with Celia!" the twins yelled, each protesting louder and louder as Katie tried to usher them out of the Potions classroom. Celia pouted, a little put out that her plan of revenge would be cut short, but figured she'd gotten enough embarrassment out of them for her to be satisfied. "We're not going!"

Snape eyed Celia in a warning matter. "Fine," she said, rolling her eyes before she looked at the twins. "Boys, it would make me really happy if you went to the Hospital Wing."

Immediately, they stopped fighting against Katie, their eyes glazed over with affection as they stared at Celia. "We'll go right now! Let's go, George!"

"We'll stay there as long as you want us to, love!" 

The door shut behind Katie and the twins and the entire classroom burst into laughter. Snape tried to regain control of the class, but even he smirked a little, pleased to see the Weasley twins would be thoroughly horrified at their actions when they were given the antidote. However, when Celia let out a particularly loud chuckle, he turned to look at her, eyes narrowed. 

"Stay with me after class, Miss Malfoy. We'll discuss how the Weasleys came by the love potion."

She decided that even if she got another month's worth of detention, it would be absolutely worth it when she pictured Weasel One and Weasel two serenading her in the Great Hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my George Weasley fanfiction! This is cross-posted on Wattpad under the same username. I hope you guys enjoy!


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